Apparatus for simultaneously changing the spacing of a series of closure members for containers



A ril 3, 1962 I R o o o \F G. A. CRAIG APPARATUS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY CHANGING THE SPACING OF A SERIES OF CLOSURE MEMBERS FOR CONTAINERS Filed July 29, 1959 PM W [U [FIG.2

INVENTOR. GEORGE A. CRAIG ATT'YS.

United States Patent Ofiice 3,927,589 Patented Apr. 3, 1962 3,027,589 APPARATUS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY CHANGING THE SPACING OF A SERIES OF CLOSURE MEM- EERS FOR CONTAINERS George A. Craig, Louisville, Ky., assignor, by mesne assignmeuts, to Machinery Service, Inc., Louisville, Ky., a corporation of Kentucky Filed July 29, 1959, Ser. No. 830,276 3 Claims. (Cl. 15-304) This invention pertains to the bottling art and to machines of the kind wherein a plurality of containers, for example bottles, arranged in a rectilinear row, are simultaneously cleaned and/or filled, and relates more especially to novel means for adjusting a series of cleaner or filler heads such as are used in machines of this type.

Without limiting intent, the invention is here disclosed in detail and by way of example as embodied in a machine for cleaning bottles prior to filling, the cleaning means here disclosed being of that type wherein new bottles are cleaned pneumatically for the removal of loose, dry foreign particles or dust, such as may have accumulated in the bottle during manufacture, shipment or storage prior to their delivery to a bottle filling machine.

In such machines there is usually provided a so-called cleaner head corresponding to each bottle to be cleaned. Each cleaner head comprises a closure member which fits the bottle top snugly, and which comprises a nozzle, through which compressed air is delivered into the bottle. The closure member also has an exhaust port, usually communicating with a low pressure space or vacuum pump, through which the dust-laden air may escape or be sucked away. Since such machines are usually employed for cleaning bottles of different diameters, and since, for conservation of space, it is desirable to arrange the bottles forming a row, regardless of size, as close together as possible, it is obviously necessary to provide for varying the spacing between adjacent cleaner heads so that regardless of the size of the bottles each cleaner head may be disposed in coaxial relation to a corresponding bottle. However, in cleaning machines as heretofore devised, the adjustment of the spacing of the cleaner heads to correspond to bottles of dilferent sizes has usually necessitated the loosening of a bolt or other fastener means for each individual cleaner head; the adjustment of each individual head, by measurement, to a new position, and the tightening of the fastening means, an operation which is slow and expensive. The principal object of the present invention is to provide novel means for adjusting the spacing of the cleaner heads in such a machine whereby the adjusting operation is expedited and simplified.

A further object is to provide a novel means whereby all of the cleaner heads may be adjusted simultaneously and in such a way that, without measurement, each head may be disposed in properly spaced relation to the next head, corresponding to a given bottle size.

A further object is to provide novel means for spacing a row of cleaner heads whereby the actuation of a single manually movable part serves to adjust all of the heads simultaneously and to the proper position.

In the attainment of the above objects the present invention provides for supporting the several cleaner heads so that they may be moved toward and from one another, and a linkage device connecting the several heads so that motion of one head produces motion of all the heads to such a relative amount that at the completion of the adjusting operation the heads are spaced a uniform distance apart and spaced to correspond accurately to the spacing of the bottles.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out in the following more detailed description and by reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of one end of a bottle cleaning machine equipped with the spacing means of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevation looking in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 1, showing the cleaner heads and the means for adjusting them; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view showing certain details of the adjusting means, to larger scale than in FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawings the numeral 10 diagrammatically indicates a support, for example, the upper run of an endless belt conveyor. Above the support a series of spaced parallel guides 11 is arranged, adjacent guides being so spaced as to provide between them a channel 12 of a width closely approximating the diameter of the container to be cleaned, here shown as a bottle B. The guides 11 are supported in known manner so that the space between adjacent guides may be varied and thus the widths of the channels 12 adjusted to correspond to bottles of diiferent diameters. Except when the widths of the channels are to be varied, the guides 11 'are'stationary and the channels defined by the series of guides are all of the same width. The bottles which are to be cleaned are fed into these channels in any suitable way, for example, by hand or as supplied by suitable automatic means, so as to keep each channel filled. The bottles are advanced, for example by movement of the conveyor 10 upon which they rest, in the direction of the arrow F (FIG. 1) and, after being cleaned, are discharged onto the conveyor 13 which moves in a direction at right angles to the lengths of the channels 12. A stop bar 14, of a type well-known in the art, is moved back and forth automatically across the width of the conveyor 13 and, when at one limit of its motion, it forms a barrier to prevent further advance of the bottles until they have undergone the cleaning operation, whereupon the bar is moved to the other side of the conveyor 13, thereby to permit the foremost bottle in each row to be advanced onto the conveyor 13.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the apparatus comprises vertical posts P and P located at opposite sides of the series of guide members 11 and these posts support a horizontal duplex rail comprising two parallel bars 15 and 15a, spaced to provide a slot 16 between them, this duplex rail being vertically movable, by means not here shown in detail, but such as is well-known in the art.

Rods R and R (FIG. 2), depending from the rails 15, 15a carry bearings for a rotatable, horizontal shaft 17 and also support a rectilinear guide rod bar 18 (FIG. 3). On this guide bar 18 is arranged a series of supports (here shown as comprising blocks 19, FIG. 3), which form the upper portions of the respective cleaner heads. Each of the cleaner heads also comprises a closure member 20 (FIG. 3), which is designed to snugly fit the top of the neck N of one of the bottles B. The cleaner heads are of customary type, each including a nozzle which, when the closurer member is in place, is directed downwardly into the bottle, each nozzle communicating, by means of a passage in the corresponding block 19 with a flexible tube 21 leading from a source of compressed air.

Each of the cleaner heads also has a delivery port, not shown, which, by means of a passage in the corresponding block communicates with a flexible tube 24 (FIG. 3) whose opposite end is connected to a source of suction, for example a vacuum pump, so that dust-laden air from the bottle may be drawn away,

In accordance with the present invention, the rotatable shaft 17, which is provided at one end (as shown in FIGS.

1 and 2) with a hand wheel 25, by means of which it may be turned manually, is screw-threaded throughout more or less of its length and the screw-threaded portion of the rod has threaded engagement with an internally screwthreaded bore in a part 26 (FIG. 3) which may be integral with or welded or otherwise secured to the endmost block 19 of the series. By rotation of the shaft 17 this endmost block may be moved longitudinally of the shaft, that is to say, transversely of the series of channels 12.

A linkage of lazy-tongs type, indicated generally at 27 (FIG. 2), is arranged to connect the several blocks 19 of the series. As illustrated more particularly in FIG. 3, this lazy-tongs linkage comprises a series of pairs of short links 28, the links of each pair being pivotally connected by a pin or equivalent device indicated at 29. The pin which thus connects the links of each of said pairs is secured to one, respectively, of the blocks 19, and since the linkage is symmetrical, the motion of the endmost block 19 along the guide rod 18 either expands or contracts the linkage, depending upon the direction in which the block 19 is moved, and in so expanding or contracting, the several supports 19 are moved toward or away from each other but, although the space between adjacent cleaning heads, may be more or less, this space will be the same through the series.

If it be assumed that the machine is to be adjusted to clean a different size of bottle, and that all of the bottles have been discharged from the channels 12, and that the rails 15 and 15a have been raised, rotation of the shaft 17 will simultaneously move the several cleaning heads laterally so as to change the spacing between adjacent heads to accommodate bottles of a different diameter. It may be understood that in one way or another the widths of the channels 12, between adjacent guides 11, will be correspondingly changed to accommodate bottles of like diameter.

After a proper adjustment of the cleaning heads by rotation of the shaft 17, and the filling of the channels 12 with bottles of the new size, the cleaning heads may then be lowered so that each cleaning head will be accurately coaxial with the bottle with which it is to be function. The cleaning of this foremost row of bottles may now be accomplished by the delivery of compressed air into each bottle, and when the cleaning operation has been completed, the cleaning heads will be raised and the cleaned bottles advanced while a new row of bottles is disposed beneath the cleaning heads.

By the means above-described it is possible to adjust the cleaning heads very quickly and without recourse to the employment of measuring devices so that the spacing of the cleaning heads will correspond to bottles of any desired diameter with which the apparatus is capable of functioning.

Although, as herein above-described, the shaft 17 is provided with screw threads which engage threads in a block 26 carried by one of the members 19 only, it is contemplated that, if desired, the shaft 17 may have right and left screw threads at its opposite end portions, respectively, and that, while the right-hand threads, for example, may engage a threaded bore in a part carried by the block 19 at one end of the series, the left-hand screw threads may engage a similar screw threaded block carried by the member 19 at the opposite end of the series. Such an arrangement provides a somewhat more rapid adjustment and keeps the series of channels 12 more nearly centered with respect to the opposite sides of the machine. It will be understood, of course, that the shaft 17 will pass through the intervening blocks with clearance so that the motions of these blocks are not in any way interfered with by the presence of the shaft 17.

Obviously, a similar arrangement may be employed for adjusting the filler heads of a bottle filling machine.

While one desirable embodiment of the invention has been disclosed by way of example, it is to be understood that the invention is broadly inclusive of any and all modifications falling within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A bottle cleaning machine of the kind wherein bottles are advanced by a conveyor along a series of parallel paths and are disposed in a rectilinear row extending transversely across the series of paths in readiness for cleaning, a horizontal bar carried by supporting means and operationally located parallel to said row of bottles, a series of relatively movable, uniformly spaced closure heads, each comprising a support which is slidable along said bar, each support carrying a member which is designed to fit over the top of the neck of a bottle, and a nozzle which has communication with a source of compressed air, and each support having a passage which communicates with a vacuum pump, in combination, a rotatable shaft extending parallel to said bar, said shaft having right-hand and left-hand screw-threaded portions, the series of supports having openings through which the shaft passes, the openings in the endmost supports only of the series being threaded for engagement with the right and left-hand screw threads respectively, on the shaft, a lazy-tongs linkage extending parallel to said bar, said linkage having its endmost pivots fixed respectively to the endmost supports of the series, and each intermediate pivot fixed to a corresponding one of the intermediate supports, and means whereby the shaft may be rotated thereby simultaneously to vary the spacing between the several cleaner beads by the same amount.

2. Apparatus of the kind which comprises means for supporting a rectilinear row of containers in uniformly spaced relation, a series of closure members, one operationally coaxial with each container, each closure member having an exhaust port and a nozzle which is adapted to be directed downwardly into a container with which the container is associated, means through which pressure fluid may be supplied to each respective nozzle for dis charge into the container, a horizontally slidable support for carrying each closure member so that each may be moved relative to the others to vary their spacing to correspond to containers of different diameters, in combination, a linkage device of the lazy-tongs type including a series of pairs of crossed links, means connecting the crossing point of each pair of links of the series to one of said slidable supports respectively, and a manually rotatable shaft having screw-threaded engagement with each of the endmost supports of the series, each endmost support being threaded in the opposite sense from the other endmost support, whereby said shaft is operative simultaneously to move the endmost supports of the series toward and from each other, thereby, by means of the linkage, moving all of the closure members simultaneously so that the uniformity of spacing of the closure members is maintained while the space between adjacent closure members is varied.

3. Apparatus of the kind which comprises means for supporting a rectilinear row of containers in uniformly spaced relation, a series of closure members, one operationally coaxial with each container, each closure member having an exhaust port and a nozzle which is adapted to be directed downwardly into a container with which the closure member is associated, means through which pressure fluid may be supplied to each respective nozzle for discharge in a jet into the container, the closure members being eiements of cleaner heads, the pressure fluid being compressed air, and the exhaust port of each closure mem' ber communicating with a flexible suction conduit, in: combination, a fixed horizontal guide rail operationally parallel to the row of containers, a rotatable shaft parallel to said guide rail and having a right-hand and a left-hand screw-threaded portion, a series of supports, each forming a portion of one cleaner head, respectively, and each having a bore through which passes said rotatable shaft, the bores of the endmost supports being screw-threaded to engage the right and lefbhand screw-threaded portions respectively of said rotatable shaft, whereby rotation of the shaft moves the endmost supports in opposite directions along the guide rail, and means connecting the several supports whereby movement of said endmost sup- 5 ports by the rotation of the shaft so moves all of the supports as simultaneously to change the spacing between adjacent supports While maintaining uniformity of spacing throughout the series, the remaining bores being unthreaded so that the remaining supports may move, with clearance, laterally relatively to the rotatable shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Pfautz Mar. 30, 1880 Nichols et al Nov. 20, 1900 Wild Jan. 21, 1913 Newey Oct. 16, 1934 Peterson Dec. 17, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Mar. 18, 1912 

